


At Least the Snow is Good for Something

by captainofthefallen



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: F/M, White March DLC, but only for like the first 5 minutes of it, continue to blame madison for everything, i'm sure you can guess where this is going, the bit where they're trapped in a cave by a blizzard, white march spoilers, you know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-12-17 13:31:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11852601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainofthefallen/pseuds/captainofthefallen
Summary: Yep. It's one of those. The party is trapped in a cave by a blizzard, and the Watcher is cold. Cross-posted from tumblr.





	At Least the Snow is Good for Something

She still dreams. 

He’s not sure why he expected that to change, really. The dreams have been getting steadily worse over time, traveling to the White March shouldn’t change anything. But he’d hoped. 

He’d hoped that maybe being somewhere far from wherever Thaos was would make it better. He’d hoped that she could finally get a good night’s sleep, one she desperately needed. And maybe a small, selfish part of him had hoped that if she just left it all behind, she’d be okay. 

Gods knew, if anyone had the right to just turn their back on everything, it was her. She’d already suffered plenty. No one would blame her if she just up and left, to the Republics, or Aedyr, or anywhere really. 

He knew with equal certainty that she never would. 

Watching her now, he can’t tell whether her incessant motion is driven by the dreams or the cold. She’s better at hiding her discomfort, at least when she’s awake, but the White March is called that for a reason, and they’re all feeling it. Well, except maybe Sagani. Reminds her of home, more than anything, he figures. 

The Watcher makes a low sound, a muted, pained cry that twists something in his chest, and he knows it’s not the cold. It’s getting worse. And sure, maybe the Leaden Key is involved in the White March, and stopping their plans sure is important, but at this point… the detour could mean the end of her. And that’s not something he’s ready to face just now. Never will be, if he’s being honest with himself. 

With half a glance at the mouth of the cave (the snow is falling as relentlessly as ever) he slowly pushes himself to his feet. It’s been a few weeks since he took the full night’s watch–Pallegina gave him an earful for it the first time, so he hasn’t tried it again since–but this time, he thinks, it’s worth the risk. 

He crouches at her side, taking her hand in one of his and reaching up to touch her face with the other. Both extremities are freezing. 

She twitches and whimpers in her sleep, unconsciously pressing closer to him, and he can’t help himself. As gently as he can, he lifts her into his arms, shushing her softly when she stirs and blinks sleepily up at him. 

He doesn’t think she’s fully awake–her eyes are bleary and her brows contract in confusion, like her brain can’t quite put the pieces together. She makes a noise like she’s trying to speak, but she’s not quite awake enough for it, so he just shushes her again softly, and says, “Gotta get you warmed up, Nineteen. Get some rest." 

This seems to satisfy her. Her eyes slide closed, and he tries to ignore his quickened heartbeat as she snuggles closer to him while he settles back by the fire. 

He talks to her quietly, hoping to ease her passage into a dreamless sleep, for once, but he can’t quite bring himself to let go of her. She’s cold, he rationalizes. They’ve been in this cave for almost two days, and it’s taking its toll on everyone, but she’s used to the plains. She may be good at hiding it, but the cold, on top of all her other problems, is taking a toll. 

So he leans up against the wall, settling her in his lap with her head resting on his chest, and holds her as close as he can. For the cold, he reminds himself.   
It’s a convenient excuse and he knows it, but he’s not about to let that stop him. This isn’t about him. This is about making her as comfortable as he can, and trying to ensure she can sleep for once. If that means he needs to endure the persistent ache of having her so close and knowing she can never be closer? He will. 

He wakes Pallegina for the watch when he starts getting drowsy enough that he’s afraid he’ll fall asleep on the job. If he puts the Watcher, and her bedroll, as close to the fire as he can, and if he lays his out a bit closer than he ordinarily would, Pallegina doesn’t say anything. And if when he wakes, they’re even closer together, practically pressed against each other, he can tell himself that it’s just because she’s cold. Even when she smiles at him as their eyes meet, reaching out to give his hand a squeeze and thank him for taking care of her.   
Well, he thinks as she gets to her feet and goes to check on the storm, at least the cold is good for something.


End file.
